Introduction to Geospatial Metadata

D G RossiterCornell University, Section of Soil & Crop Sciences

W¬��'f0�ffb

January 9, 2018

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of the work as a whole (not parts) freely permitted if thisoriginal copyright notice is included. Sale or placement on a web site where payment must be made to access thisdocument is strictly prohibited. To adapt or translate please contact the author (d.g.rossiter@cornell.edu).

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 1

What

Metadata: structured information that describes an information resource: “dataabout data”

• structure: how it is organized, how to access

• content: what it represents

• lineage: how it was created

Digital metadata: machine-readable (allows data discovery)

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 2

Geospatial metadata

Metadata about objects with a geographic location and extent

i.e., somewhere “on” the Earth’s suface (or referenced to it).

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 3

Why

• locate (data discovery)

• describe

• use (structure, meaning)

• administer (access rights etc.)

• preserve (archive) for eventual re-use

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 4

Standards

ISO 19915: Geographic Information – Metadata

http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDC-standards-projects/metadata/base-metadata/index_html

Content standard for digital geospatial metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/us-national-profile-iso19115/index_html

Explains how FGDC will adjust this into The North American Profile (NAP) [USAand Canada] of ISO 19115

http://geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/tools/doc/plain.faq.html

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 5

In plain language

What does this data set describe?How should this data set be cited?What geographic area does the data set cover?Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?What is the general form of this data set?How does the data set represent geographic features?How does the data set describe geographic features?

Who produced the data set?Who are the originators of/contributors to the data set?To whom should users address questions about the data?

Why was the data set created?How was the data set created?

Where did the data come from?What changes have been made?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?How well have the observations been checked?How accurate are the geographic locations, and heights or depths (if applicable)?Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?

How can someone get a copy of the data set?Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?Who distributes the data?What’s the catalog number I need to order this data set?What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 6

More formally . . .

Identification Information Basic information about the data set.

Examples: title, geographic area covered, currentness, rules for acquiring orusing the data.

Data Quality Information An assessment of the quality of the data set.

Examples: positional and attribute accuracy, completeness, consistency,sources of information, and methods used to produce the data.

Spatial Data Organization Information The mechanism used to representspatial information

Examples: direct (raster or vector), indirect (street addresses, county codes);the number of spatial objects in the data set.

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 7

Spatial Reference Information The reference frame for, and means of encoding,coordinates

Examples: name and parameters for map projections or grid coordinatesystems, horizontal and vertical datum, coordinate system resolution.

Entity and Attribute Information The entity types and their attributes and thedomains from which attribute values may be assigned.

Examples: names and definitions of features, attributes, and attribute values;reference to data dictionary

Distribution Information How to obtain the data set

Examples: contact for the distributor, available formats, online or physicalmedia access, and fees for the data.

Metadata Reference Information Which metadata standard, who wrote thismetadata?

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 8

HTML metadata

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 9

HTML metadata - spatial reference information

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 10

HTML metadata - attribute information

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 11

How

1. Describe in plain language – but how do you know you’ve covered everything?

2. Use formal metadata tools

• During data design• During data acquisition• At the end of the project

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 12

Metadata tools

Lists

• http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/us-national-profile-iso19115/geospatial-metadata-tools

D G Rossiter

Introduction to Geospatial Metadata 13

Useful tools

1. Creation

• ArcCatalog (ESRI); integrated with ArcGIS.• https://edg.epa.gov/EME/ EPA metadata editor (requires Microsoft .net)• http://geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/tools/doc/tkme.html

Program: tkme

2. Checking, export

• http://geology.usgs.gov/tools/metadata/tools/doc/mp.htmlProgram: mp (Metadata Parser)

• on-line validation (http://geo-nsdi.er.usgs.gov/validation/

D G Rossiter